TRA and airlines offer special deals for customers who pay with vouchers

By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER

The nation’s transportation industry is offering special deals to attract some of the expected boost in domestic spending from the government’s distribution of consumer vouchers.

The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday that approximately 30 of its railway souvenirs could be purchased with consumer vouchers, including models of the tilting Taroko Express and EMU100 Express trains, figurines of TRA conductors and train crew and maps of the nation’s railways.

TRA passengers who pay with consumer vouchers can also receive special discounts on railway passes and meals.

Meanwhile, the TRA will start selling steel lunchboxes with lids embossed with an image of Jhutian (竹田) Station in Pingtung County, a station built during the Japanese colonial era.

The nation’s two largest airlines — China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Air — also said they were offering special deals to passengers paying with consumer vouchers.

CAL will offer two types of discounts: The first will allow passengers to buy economy-class round-trip tickets to 30 airports in Asia for just NT$3,600, the face value of the vouchers being issued starting this weekend.

The offer is valid from Sunday through Jan. 31 and is applicable for reservations made via the CAL Web site. The quota will be capped at 100 tickets per day.

Reservations can be made beginning at 12am on Sunday. Each customer can reserve a maximum of four tickets.

Between Sunday and September, passengers who book CAL tickets through travel agencies will receive a NT$5,000 discount when paying with the vouchers, the company said.

Starting next month, the NT$5,000 discount will also apply for ticket purchases with vouchers on the CAL Web site.

EVA Air is offering customers a NT$5,000 fare discount if they purchase one of the airline’s set travel packages.

Customers who pay for tickets to Hong Kong and Macau with vouchers will receive a NT$4,200 discount.

Both Uni Air and Mandarin Airlines are also offering discounts on domestic flights to passengers who pay with consumer vouchers starting next month.

TransAsia Airways, on the other hand, was not offering discounts, but said customers could pay with the vouchers.

The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp also has not offered any deals for the vouchers.